Photos of Typical Pakistani Food & Dishes

Pakistani cuisine is a variety of several regional cooking traditions of South Asia. The style of preparing food varies from one region to another within Pakistan. Food from the Provinces of Sindh and Punjab is mostly very spicy. Whereas food dishes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Azad Kashmir, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan also have peculiar tastes based on various regional culture and traditions.
This Post shows only the photos of typical Pakistani food and dishes, while the recipes are not in the scope. There are many cooking websites where professional Pakistani chefs contribute numerous cooking recipes. Pakistani cooking websites

Traditional Pakistani Food: Red Spicy Qatlama (Katlama): ‘Qatlama’ is a Pakistani spicy savory, which is made with dough mixed with chili powder, garam masala and red food coloring. Qatlama is actually a Pakistani version of the central Asian Katlama which is a pizza-like dish.

Local ‘Pizza’ of Peshawar. These are naans and also called ‘masalidara rotai’ or tikala’ by locals of Peshawar. Tikala means food , khana, roti, etc in one of the many dialects of the Pashtu language.These naans have a variety of fillings and named according to those fillings, such as Qeema walay Naan, Aalu walay naan, Chicken naan, etc.

Samosa with Green Chutni

Pakistani Food: Preparation of Fresh Crispy Samosas

Gol Gappay: The Street Snack. The Gol Gappa is a popular street snack in all over Pakistan, especially in Lahore and Karachi. It consists of a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and mostly filled with ‘Imli ka Paani’ (Tamarind water). Some people also like it filled with tamarind chutney, chili, chaat masala, boiled pieces of potato, onion and chickpeas. This yummy delight is generally small enough to fit completely into one’s mouth.

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I will like to know your understanding about TIKALA. In our province KPK, some Pathans of a particular area e.g. Afridis refer to meals as TIKALA. There are others who refer it as MARHAi. I don’t think its a particular dish.
Since your name suggests you hail from India, it will be interesting to know from you about TIKALA.

Thanks for clarifying that TIKALA is a type of ROTI and not really a Dish and also for giving other references.

We do have Stuffed Roti / Parantha and Naan in India but I have not come across the type of Roti / Tikala that you have.

Yes I am from New Delhi.
My parents lived in Quetta before Partition.
I am proud to have details of my last TEN GENERATIONS all of whom were born and lived in what is now Pakistan.
I was born in New Delhi in July 1947.
As kids we used to discuss with our parents and other elders about lives in their native places and that is why I am always keen to know about Pakistan and its culture.
Regards,

Welcome. In our country, as a result of electronic media’s programmes on different channels promoting ‘Culinary Recipes,’ peculiar dishes have not been confined to their respective areas / regions. In Punjab, Gujranwala is the place, where people are very fond of consuming all type of meat, white as well as red,including fish,chicken, mutton, beef, small birds e.g.Chirras, Batteras, etc, not to exclude Kajeji, gurde, kapoore, siri paye.
But peculiarity of Punjab is the items of Dairy products, such as Lassi, Kulfi-Falooda, cheese, maawe ki mithai, etc.
Coming to the point, Quetta and Baluchistan eatery outlets specialize in preparing mutton dishes, mutton Bar-B-Q and an item called Joints, which I have not found in other areas of the country. Another specialty of Quetta is Balochi Chappals (foot ware).
Stay blessed.

I started on strict diet just three days ago. Accidentally I went on this site and I was forced to go to the kitchen to make a paratha and deep fry peppers. You have posted the most wonderful dishes. Please remove this site during Ramadan as many may give up their fast.